While some games might be equally addictive, none have sustained
quite the level of rich, satisfying gameplay quite like Sid Meier's magnum
opus. The blend of exploration, economics, conquest and diplomacy is augmented
by the quintessential research and developemnt model, as you struggle to erect
the Pyramids, discover gunpowder, and launch a colonization spacecraft to Alpha
Centauri. For its day, Civ had the toughest computer opponents around - even
taking into account the "cheats," that in most instances added rather
than detracted from the game. Just when you think the game might bog down, you
discover a new land, a new technology, another tough foe - and you tell
yourself, "just one more game," even as the first rays of the new sun
creep into your room...the most accute case of game-lock we've ever felt.

While Falcon 3.0 (see below) may be the most impressive from a
technical standpoint, there is little question that Red Baron is the better
game. Damon Slye honed his craft while designing action hits like Stellar 7 and
Skyfox, but with pure flight sims, he found his metier. With all the realistic
options turned on, Red Baron is a bear to fly; it's all you can do to keep the
fragile wings from tearing off. Rotary aircraft snap to the right, machine guns
jam at the worst time - just exactly how you would expect these rickety
constructions of wood and fabric to behave. When you toss in the interesting
missions and wonderful campaigns, it's hard to imagine a better flight
experience. A tribute to the design is that despite its dated VGA graphics, it
is still selling. If Red Baron II is anywhere near as good, flight sim fans
will have ample reason to rejoice.

Simply the best action game of all time. Even though DOOM wasn't
true 3D, it transformed the way everyone thought about the PC as a fast gaming
machine. If you want to see us phapsodize some more, check out this month's
Hall of Fame.

6. Sim City - Maxis, 1987

The ultimate in software toys almost never got published.
Supposedly, there just wasn't "enough game," a description belied by
the dynamic city construction involved. After you built your city from scratch,
you had to run it, and the continued success comes not so much from the
mechanics, but from tapping into the sheer joy of discovery. Challenging on
many levels, it evaluates your performance even as you enjoy it. It's hard to
ask much more than that from any game.

A fascinating science fiction story set in a post-nuclear world of
disintegrating technology, dysfunctional society and mutant organisms,
Wasteland was the first game many of us played where the other members of the
player's adventuring party acted like "real" people instead of
inventory cabinets with names and automatons with skill sets. Ask the party to
divvy up the cash and one or more might refuse. Try to get a party member to
cough up his/her last clip of ammo? No way!

Falcon 3.0 was the first jet simulation to offer a truly realistic
flight model, but it didn't stop there. It also introduced the useful (and
necessary) wingmen and the first truly dynamic flight sim campaign. Moreover,
Falcon 3.0 was also one of the first games to support multiplayer network play.
The fact that the game is still in the shelves more than five years after its
initial release is testament to its quality and advanced design.

The cries of "Oh no!" as you'd sacrifice a Lemming in an
effort to save its brethren proved that the death of little animals had never
been so cute. This diabolical puzzle game starts with simple challenges and
works you steadily towards ultra-challenging conundrums that require
split-second timing with the mouse. In its initial release, the PC version was
a poor imitation of its Amiga predecessor, but the Win 95 update included with
Lemmings Paintball should be snatched up by all who missed this classic.

It all started with a little letter in a mailbox outside a small
white house. From here began a magic journey into the land of Frobozz. This
seminal Infocom text adventure combined challenging puzzles, wonderful
descriptive prose, and a touch of humor to create a rich universe that existed
not in SVGA graphics, but within your head. A far different tone than the campy
Return to Zork or the dark Zork Nemesis made this a universe many early gamers
would spend all their non-school hours glued to until it was fully explored.

14. Tetris - Spectrum Holobyte, 1988

This insidious little puzzle game may have been the Soviet Union's
last-ditch attempt at destroying American productivity. If personal computers
had been more commonplace in 1988, it darned well might have succeeded. The
seemingly simple task of matching falling blocks would become an obsession, to
the point that many gamers would find themselves rotating Tetris blocks in
their dreams.

Most of us that play wargames began for a variety of reasons, but
chief among them was that we wanted to be Patton, or Lee, or Rommel for a day.
Panzer General lets you do just that, in a series of tough scenarios and
exciting campaigns. PG isn't for everybody, since every time realism and fun
clash, the latter wins out. But what the game lacks in historical insights, it
more than makes up for in variety: the amphibious invasion of Norway; the
airborne assault on Crete; the sweeping armored battles of Kursk and North
Africa. Panzer General made more realistic games like Steel Panthers possible,
because it made wargames fun - and marketable - again.